


The Doctor is out.

by binaryV2



Series: Doctor Who : The Lonesome roads. [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005), Twilight Zone
Genre: Anxiety, Depression, Doctor Who Feels, Gallifrey, Gen, Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, The Doctor (Doctor Who) is a Mess, The Doctor is Not Okay (Doctor Who), The Doctor is travelling alone, Themes of Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-20 18:35:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30009204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/binaryV2/pseuds/binaryV2
Summary: Set in a canon divergent universe where Gallifrey was never saved and starring an original incarnation of The iconic Timelord: The Doctor gets a strange phonecall whilst traveling alone, and decides to investigate a small town in America.
Series: Doctor Who : The Lonesome roads. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2207520





	1. Please leave a message.

It's always so quiet in the Tardis... Even as the console room hums with a soft purr and a warm hum, the controls steadily bobbing up and down on their own as the woodwork console's lights beep and whistle quietly. Woodwork console with clean button layout stands in the middle of the room, large glass pillar connects to the ceiling and starts from the center of the console. The console lays on a grated platform, surrounded by four heavy metallic pillars that connect to a wooden floor. The room was massive, about as large as a small-town library. Bookshelves, chairs, record players, toolboxes, and other trinkets scattered around the vast room. The room, while wide, was a dome-like structure that came upward to meet the top section of the Tardis Console pillar, which housed the central rotor. 

Along the walls were various, dimly lit, roundels that made up subsections of the walls. The rest smoothed over or covered by bookshelves. There was a coat rack by the door and a hanger along the wall which housed some satchels and travel bags. There were some carpets along the floor and near the console, but the console had more of a grungy setup near it. As if there was an engine being worked on in the center of a library. Grates were open, wires connected up into the console, and toolboxes were strewn about with various different tools and sonic devices used to help fine-tune the console when the time came about. 

It was awfully, awfully dark in the console room. Most of the room lit dimly by the roundels, with most of the central light coming from the console unit itself. Smooth, blue light pulsating softly against the air, like a heart beating against the wind. Though not all the light came from the console, as the main door was open. Purple starlight and hues of red, orange, and blue poured in through the door. The door was a wooded material, painted blue and pushed inward. There were some panels and windows here, with big text along the top of the window that read out "Police Public Call Box."

Outside the room, was a small box. To the normal passerby, it would look like a normal wooden blue police box. The panel work here, the softwood texture and dark blue paint job, with the faint glowing windows. Though it'd of course be spinning in space, as most police boxes tend to do. On top of the police box, there sat a man. He wore sneakers, a pair of black jeans, with a black T-Shirt to match. Along with his knee there rested a green cargo coat, which he must've taken off after sitting on the box... or perhaps he just never thought to hang it up on the coat rack like a civilized adult. His hair was a messy brown and his eyes a dull hazel to match. His skin was pale and his eyes had heavy bags under them. He looked like a man who desperately struggled to sleep at night, often tossing and turning before standing up from the bed and wandering. In this man's case, he got out of bed and wandered the universe. It's very curious, isn't it?

Though the man was at a standstill, this Doctor (as he was known to most). The Doctor sat on his box, watching comets and stars pass by. He watched nebulas collide and all the while his box floated very peacefully as his hair floated as if soft waves were moving it. Curious how he looked as if he didn't have to breathe, or even wear a coat. Perfectly fine! Just another wonder of the box that The Doctor traveled in. The wonder of The Tardis. Though the Doctor seemed not enthused by the sight of space and the sounds of comets. No, his eyes spelled out an expression of contemplation and neutral feelings. The lights in his eyes were more dimly lit than the console room itself, which could equate to that of a darkly lit room singularly lit by one single lamp. 

For hours, he was pondering. Feet dangled lazily over the edge of the box and hands rested in one another while eyes drifted, zoned out of the scenery, and focused entirely inward on the thoughts. Whatever visual his brain was painting was one that had hypnotized the mine fully and absorbed The Doctor's attention. It wasn't until the crashing of asteroids awoke him from his zombie-like state, where his eyes slowly moved over to the sight of a randomly generated scenario in space. The Doctor didn't last long though, as soon his attention span went kaput and while looking upon the asteroids, now shattered and floating amidst the blackness of space, he regressed into his zombie-like state. 

For many hours, he remained like that. He just casually sat on top of the box, thoughts polluting his mind. Though with no one to vent them to, The Doctor just quietly sat and allowed himself to be consumed by the endless, crushing gravity of his own mind. He began to close his eyes and drift onto a soft bed of grass that he visualized every now and then. A large field that he was sleeping on, a different face back then. The face of a young man, just graduating from the academy and celebrating with classmates out near the fields of the citadel. A large domed city standing atop the mountains, trees of silver leaves scattered across the red grass. An orange bloom of color painting the sky around them, and laughter filling the air. Though, for some reason, The Doctor could not keep the beautiful visual in his mind forever... as the younger man with a different face became weighed down by the sins of his past and the cold nature of a face he chose to ignore caused a chill to run up his spine.

Gallifrey, his home, was on fire. It burned, the leaves were ash now and the grass was a burnt black. The sky was filled with smoke and the dome around the citadel was shattered The war was bloody, so gruesome that not even bodies were strewn about the ground. Just large exploded messes strewn about by time displacement weapons and creatures of pure destruction. The Daleks, they were called. The Doctor's people and The Daleks wiped themselves out in a war to end all wars... and now, the pictures of the chaos in his own mind reminded him of thoughts he wished were gone now. His people were gone, and he was the last of his kind.

There was only the loud ringing in his brain now as the screams of Gallifreyan children were dulled down. The Doctor holding his breath, the pressure of his lungs building forever and ever and ever until they pop. Though his mind forces him to exhale when a sound breaks through the ringing of his ears and reality resumes around The Timelord, the doctor opening his eyes and glancing toward the source of the sound. His neutral, tired expression turns to soft curiosity as he straightens his posture out and looks toward The Tardis phone panel. Softly, he grumbles out a simple _"That isn't supposed to be ringing."_ before he leans down and reaches for it, dangling across the top of his police box and casually trying not to fall into the endless cold abyss of space... forever to float away. The artificial gravity bubble surrounding The Tardis is only so big, after all.

Plucking the phone from its cradle and pressing it against his ear, The Doctor (confused expression still plastered across his face) speaks politely into the receiver.

_"...hello, you've reached **The Doctor**. I'm currently not in right now. Leave a message after the beep." _  
As he prepared to put the phone onto the cradle and close the line, he heard a faint gasp on the other end. The voice sounded very young, almost like a child. Though The Doctor could not make out what kind of child it might be.  
"But you called me, Mister!"  
 _"No, you- What?"_  
The Doctor was utterly floored by this statement and looked toward the phone. His head leaned over the entrance of the Tardis and toward the console room. Surely his box could not have self-dialed someone, right? The communications relay wasn't even patched into the console, so how was a message being sent out? And how was it being received by a child, no less?

The Doctor squints and speaks into the phone, looking at it as if it's a person.

_"Okay... So..."_ Gee, conversations sure are awkward. _"How are you?"_ He manages to stumble out.  
"..." It took her a while to respond, but she managed to get out a "Sleepy."  
The Doctor assumed it must be late at night for the child. _"Well, maybe you should get some rest. Doctor's orders."_

The child took even longer to respond this time, The Doctor just about ready to ask if she was still on the line before she finally spoke. "I'm too scared to sleep." 

This... concerned the Doctor, to be sure. Scared children are never a good side. However, he can't help but press out of curiosity's sake.

_"Scared of what?"_ The man asks, his voice even gentler this time as to try and come off as someone willing to help and provide comfort.  
  
"Something happened to the neighbor when he went to the house across the street. The same thing that happens whenever anyone goes out there past eleven o'clock." She was talking in a more hushed voice as if she was afraid to speak more about this house across the street. Though The Doctor was now very intrigued on whatever little factoid he could hook onto.

_"I see. No one's ever come back from that house?"_  
"No, sir."

The Doctor nodded casually and chewed on the end of his thumb very lightly before he nodded to himself, beginning to climb into the Tardis with the phone cord trailing behind him as he talks casually to the Child on the other line, "Okay then, I'll go ahead and try and take care of that." He says as he walks toward the console, phone in one hand as he starts fiddling with controls, phone cord snaking around the floor as it trailed inside with him. The Child lets out another soft gasp.

"Really? Are you like an exterminator?"  
 _"No, I said I was a **Doctor**." _  
"Huh? What's a Doctor gonna do? Nobody's bones are broken."  
 _"Hey, watch it! Just cause my services are **free** doesn't mean I don't expect manners."_  
"Sorry..."

He lets out a soft chuckle at the innocently sounding apology before getting back to business and fiddling with the Chronometer on the central console unit. _"Okay, what's your name little... thing... child..."_ To which the child lets out a soft, and sleepy giggle.

"Suzie."  
 _"Okay Suzie, and where exactly is this house..?"_  
"Across the street..."

The Doctor figures he's dealing with a younger child.   
_"I mean... where are you?"_  
"In my house."  
 _"...No, Suzie- You know what... just, get some sleep. Have a goodnight, Suzie."_  
"Thank you, Doctor!"  
  
The Doctor lets out a small smile before throwing in, "Your welcome, and keep on the lookout for a **big blue box**." The older adult says before walking toward the door and hanging up the phone. A click echoed through the tardis before the only thing that fills the room is a silence, a faint hum from the console, and The Doctor's own thoughts. The Silence makes the Doctor nervous, so he walks over to the console room and flicks a switch that causes a record to buzz. 

_"Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans_   
_Way back up in the woods among the evergreens_   
_There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood_   
_Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode_   
_Who never ever learned to read or write so well_   
_But he could play the guitar just like a-ringin' a bell"_   
  
_"Go go_   
_Go Johnny go go_   
_Go Johnny go go_   
_Go Johnny go go_   
_Go Johnny go go_   
_**Johnny B. Goode** "_

A flick of a switch here and a push of a button there and the neutral face Doctor quickly traced the signal of little Suzie's call, reaching up for a string to pull down the Tardis console monitor. He squints and purses his lips as the monitor displays a town on the display: Reededge, Georgia. With a snap of his fingers and a slam of the console room doors, The Doctor wraps his hand around a lever and pulls down on the central console's take-off lever. A loud whooshing echoing through the room, the console room getting brighter and brighter as The Doctor slings his jacket over his shoulder and rests a hand in his pocket. 

Brighter and pulsating with a milky, white light, the console rotor glides up and down the glass tube in the center console as the lights of the Tardis console and rotor blink and hum with an invigorated life, even a small smile snaking along the edges of The Doctor's smile. Sure, there may be danger along the way and the threat of potential death but something in the Doctor was screaming for new life and new sights, despite his sulky nature. As The Universe's call to action is beckoned by the wanderer, the Doctor only has one thing to respond with.

"Where to this time?"

**TO BE CONTINUED.**


	2. House Calls and Broken Windows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tardis lands in Reededge, Georgia.

It must be in the early afternoon in Reededge, Georgia. Kids are still in school, parents doing their shopping and gossiping, the minimal things that adults do in their day-to-day lives. At least, what they did in the nineteen fifties Reededge, Georgia. The town could be gone by the present time, but the fact of the matter is that it's around now. People are just carrying on with their day-to-day lives, so much so that not many people notice the big blue police public call box that is beginning to form in the outfield of a public baseball field. The whooshing, wheezing and groaning totally masked by the box's perception filter. It registers to some, but not enough for them to care or notice. Distraction tech is a nice ring, but perception filter is the correct terminology. 

When the box forms, it looks like a transparent picture becoming more and more vivid 

As soon as the police box lands, the door clicks open and a head pokes out and looks around. Green grass, blue sky, white clouds. Nothing completely out of the ordinary. Cars go by, people walk on. It's so normal that it's almost suspicious, but The Doctor is lured in by the intrigue. He steps out fully from the box and adjusts his jacket so that his green cargo jacket is buttoned up all the way to the second from the top, and the collar is folded nicely. His pale-brown satchel rests across his chest and is extra fashioned against it just in case. 

Once The Doctor is outside of the box and equipped for a long session of outdoor exploration, the pale time traveler casually hops the fence and leaves his locked-up Police box to rest comfortably in the field of green, confident that no one will disturb her nap. Meanwhile, he finds his way out of the park and up the sidewalk to the (hopefully) town square. When he reads the sign for city hall, The Alien nods affirmingly and starts walking toward nearby monuments, benches, and other icons laid about the town square. In most books, the protagonist of the time travel story heads toward the local diner to check for phonebooks or information. Though The Doctor is an individual who prides himself on knowing what to do and when, and at this moment The Doctor knows exactly what to do.

You see, there's this man sitting on a park bench reading a novel for a college study. Some curious novel regarding a big white whale and a captain who hunts it to the ends of the earth. He's waiting on a girl and hoping to impress this said girl by reading a piece of literature in front of her all smart like. He's very attractive, (at least by human standards) even with his glasses. Dresses very formally and presents himself as someone of higher standing, but not too in your face about it. He's an upstanding citizen (for the 1950s')

And how does our favorite Doctor begin an interaction with this gentleman? By peering just above his head and staring down at his book, waiting for the gentleman to look up and see the pale-faced wanderer looking directly at his book. Hands behind his back, leaned forward just a bit (but not too much as to leave any item on his person dangling) and wide-eyed with an expression of utterly floored curiosity, the gentleman gasps at the Doctor who raises an eyebrow and simply looks back down at the book's letters.

"C-Can I help you, sir?" The Gentleman asks, politely.   
"Well, I would sure hope as much. I'm not much of a people person so I wouldn't like to drag this conversation on." 

It's hard for the gentleman to identify whether or not The Doctor is being rude or not, so he continues on politely and with a subtle exhale that causes The Doctor to quickly lean up after which, the gentleman shuts his book. The Doctor's eyes, now having nothing to stare at, aimlessly wander around while his feet tap erratically. The Gentleman looks up and down at the man, fashion style being out of this world at all, can't help but notice what he's wearing... 

"S-Say, are you from the military-" But before the gentleman could even carry on, The Doctor cut him off immediately, not even bothering to turn and make eye contact. He just simply tapped his chin and left one hand behind his back while The Doctor's eyes wandered around the sights and stores of the town aimlessly.

"You know, I'm a bit of a fanatic when it comes to tourist spots and local attractions. I'm a bit of the occult fascination too, I enjoy freaky things of the like..." The Doctor prattled on and on, talking quicker and quicker in a tone that never quite changed. Sometimes he went duller with tones and got all the quieter and the Gentleman would have to lean in in order to hear what he was saying, The Doctor spinning on the ball of his foot (or heel of his sneaker if you're a stickler for specifics) and continuing.

"And I've recently heard from a little birdie that this local town of yours had a haunted house!" Finally, The Doctor turned back to look at the Gentleman and tapped at his bottom lip a bit, wide-eyed and brow raised as the Gentleman backed up a bit, unsure of how to start this conversation and in what methodology. This whole encounter was quite bizarre to him, but the Gentleman knew enough of what The Doctor was talking about to make conversation.

"O-Oh, you mean the Bradley house? I wouldn't quite call it a tourist attraction, _per se_... more of a hub for gossip." The Gentleman noticed that The Doctor was very keenly listening, nodding his head along with each word and seemingly perceiving it all very intently, but still, his feet tapped eccentrically and his hands rested behind his back. The Gentleman could probably guess that he was playing with his thumbs. He seemed a bit lost in the noggin, but who was he to judge? "I mean, sure, it was investigated by the police... but they didn't really find anything." The Gentleman then raised his own eyebrow.

"What did you say your name was again?"  
"I didn't. What happened to the people there?" The Doctor questioned, insistent on wondering what made the Bradley house so popular.

"Well, the family inside just sort of vanished, you know? Newlywed moves in gets to meet the neighbors and the likes... and then just, poof." The gentleman makes a poof hand with his hand and then rests it back atop his book. The Doctor leaning back as if he had just heard something utterly outrageous and was planning on complaining to city hall about it, and when the poor gentleman said poof, The Doctor repeated:

"Poof!? Oh, that doesn't help me in the slightest. What do you mean poof?! Nobodies? What about the newlyweds?"  
"W-Well, I mean, the police statement didn't say much-"  
"Oh, that's a bunch of rubbish."

The Gentleman was surprised to hear an English-sounding word coming from someone who sounded like he was from the upper northeast part of America, probably New York... though the voice tone was more relaxed, not as harsh as someone who lived deep in the parts of the big city. The Doctor shrugged, eventually giving the Gentleman a pat on the head before shoving his hands into his pockets and turning on his heel again. Nothing more than a "Ta-Ta!" leaving his mouth before he heads out and leaves the Gentleman alone with his book.

"W-Wait! Where are you going?"

But the Doctor simply sauntered off with little more than a whistle of a tune behind him.

* * *

The Bradley House is indeed, exactly as the gentleman described it to be; A hub for gossip. On the outside, it's just a regular two-story house. Wonderfully painted, yet dull red walls with white singles and frosted windows. The attic has a circular window and on the inside, a circular staircase can just barely be seen. However, that's just it. It's nothing more than a big, red house with a big backyard. It has a nice red mailbox and a small Pickett fence but other than that, it's just an average house. So what's so special about the Bradley house? 

Well, adults seem to think people who go in there are just scared off by the urban legend inside. It's sort of turned the little town of Reededge into a ghost town. Though some children spread the tale of the Bradley house to be something more than it is. People who go in there are snatched by something truly terrible. At night, high schoolers will wander in there during the midnight hour, and as soon as they go in there; The Bradley House lights turn on and flicker just for a moment before going completely pitch black again...

...and the high schoolers never come out...

At least, that's what little Suzie Widman had heard from her friend, Joey Rudey. Her father worked as a police officer and her mother, a nurse, so she was raised to be much more of a practical thinker and especially more straightforward of a person. Even at the young age of seven, little Suzie was always trying to accept things very rationally. So when the other school kids spread the tale of The Bradley House, Suzie took it with a grain of salt. Until last night, of course. She saw a group of teenagers go in there, a girl and a boy, carrying some type of bottle similar to the one she'd seen in Mommy's grocery bags, and then- poof! A flicker of light and they were gone. 

For hours, Suzie watched and waited... but nothing ever happened. Just a scream, a flicker, and the two teenagers didn't come out. Suzie's first thought was to try and call the police, but her mother and father slept soundly that night. The only phone that little Suzie Widman had was her play-phone. Just a little toy rotary phone, with little eyes that would watch her while she slept! With no one to call and fear overtaking her small being, little Suzie did nothing but watch.

Until her phone started ringing, and confused little Suzie answered. What proceeded to happen was a very interesting conversation with a very strange man who called himself "The Doctor", and told her to keep on the lookout for a blue box! Well, Suzie saw no blue box insight. She simply stood on the street corner outside the Bradley house waiting patiently for the bus to come. She bit at her lip nervously and fiddled with the tightening straps on her backpack. She could not shake the feeling of a chill running up her spine, but little Suzie simply stayed glued to the spot she was in, staring deeply into the window of the Bradley house and seeing the outlines of furniture through the frosted glass windows. 

Then she blinked. A fear-induced blink, quick and sudden, but when she blinked and her eyes quickly opened back up... One of the objects she had been staring at had no longer been there. Something was missing. Was there a person in the Bradley House? Had one of the high schoolers who'd gone into the Haunted house actually survived? Were there more? Was there a secret society of teenagers living in The Bradley House? Hiding from their parents? Little Suzie Widman was overtaken by frightful curiosity now... and after looking twice left and right down the street to check for cars, crossed the street and past the white picket fence and up to the porch window. 

Forehead and nose pressed against the window, eyes wide open and trying to stare at all the blurry furniture pieces in the Bradley House's living room. The furniture, the paintings, the television. She was shocked to learn the Bradley's had a television! Those were quite expensive. Mother and Father were able to afford one, but Suzie had heard stories from other children about color televisions coming out soon! She'd have to see one to believe it. Though Suzie was suddenly finding her attention captured by another object in the living room. 

It looked slim at the upper-half and wearing a dress at the bottom half. Suzie couldn't see much because of the frosted, blurry windows... But it looked as if it was a woman wearing a dress! With Wings, nonetheless! Suzie wondered if that was the object that had moved... She peered in for a closer look and found her eyes blinking after hot breath bounced from the window and into her face. After which, she noticed the winged woman had seemingly gotten bigger. Not bigger... No, closer! But that wasn't right. It couldn't be unless it was a person- that could move! 

She felt too scared to blink. Little Suzie could not see the object breathing, or even flinching. It looked as still as a statue. Though the urge not to blink became too hard to resist, and little Suzie Widman found her eyes closed yet again. It was so quick though! Like an unconscious blink that takes but a millisecond! Though that seemed quick enough for the angelic object to appear before the window, and now Suzie could get a much clearer look. Fangs! Fangs and stone skin! Eyes of a devil! Suzie let out a scream and her cheeks turned a bright red from tears of fright as she tripped over herself trying to run away from the porch.

And as she zoomed away from the porch, she found herself crashing into someone else standing in her way. Someone quickly grabbed her and caught her to prevent her from falling. Tears streaming down her eyes, she tried to resist and struggle, though the figure's touch was gentle and relaxing. She found herself starting to ease and focus on the person who was repeating "Sh. It's alright now. Just breathe." And the voice sounded oh so familiar to miss Widman, who wiped at her tears to see a man dressed in a green jacket with black pants, and a travel bag slung over his chest.

"W-Who are you?" The little girl asked, wiping her tears away and looking up at the stranger, who was leaning down to her level and showing patient hospitality. It seemed as if the figure already recognized her voice from erratic crying alone. _"_

_Well, I'm The Doctor... and I'm here on a house call. It's nice to meet you, Suzie."_

**Author's Note:**

> An altered canon where Day of The Doctor never happened and Gallifrey never returned. The Doctor still remaining one of The last timelords in the galaxy.


End file.
